Musical Creativity Revisited: Educational Foundations, Practices and Research

How is creativity understood and facilitated across music education settings? What is the power of creativity in enhancing individual and group learning? How is musical creativity used as a tool for cross-community integration? How can we research the interactions of those engaged in musical activities aimed at creative development? These are just some of the questions addressed in this fascinating new monograph. Musical Creativity Revisited is an authoritative volume of insights from theory, practice-based research and methodological analyses. Its chapters celebrate the diversity of the many different ways in which young and adult learners develop musical creativity. Following on from Musical Creativity: Insights from Music Education Research (Ashgate, 2012) Odena offers novel examples from practice and precise suggestions on how to research it. This book will be an essential point of reference for students, researchers, practitioners and practitioner-researchers interested in music education and creativity across the arts and social sciences. The chapters have been organized into three sections – Foundations, Practices and Research – including examples from in-depth studies focussed on a secondary school in England, higher music education in Spain and out-of-school settings in Northern Ireland. This is a book that will fascinate readers, inspiring them to think deeply about the many different ways in which musical creativity can be developed, its purposes and how to research it.

Oscar Odena is Professor of Education at the School of Education and the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Glasgow, UK. He has a doctorate from UCL Institute of Education and has held posts at universities in Spain, England and Northern Ireland. His areas of expertise comprise music education, creativity, qualitative research approaches, social inclusion and professional learning. He was Co-Chair of the Research Commission of the International Society for Music Education (2012–2014) and serves on the boards of leading journals and the review colleges of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Irish Research Council. Publications number over 70 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, including the edited book Musical Creativity. He holds dual Spanish and British citizenship and lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two daughters.